Tiger Woods is returning to golf Thursday, when he’ll compete in the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga. This tournament will mark his first professional tournament since his self-imposed absence from the sport, due to scandal in his personal life.

Only days after an article in The National Inquirer accused Woods of having an extramarital affair in November, he crashed his SUV near his home amid an apparent argument with his wife. This led to numerous women coming forward with claims of affairs with Woods. In December, Woods held a press conference to apologize for his behavior and announce he was taking a leave of absence from professional golf.

Before these scandals, Woods was one of the most iconic athletes in the world. At age 34, he had won 14 major golf championships, on pace to break Jack Nicklaus’ record.

Once the allegations of cheating came out, many companies, such as Gatorade and General Motors, dropped him as a sponsor. He still has sponsorship deals with Nike and Electronic Arts, but his public image may never be the same.

After therapy and time with his family, Woods returns to the tournament he has already won four times.

At a press conference Monday in Augusta, Woods said he is ready to play and is going to make more of an effort to be friendly and acknowledge his fans while on the course.

The Daily Orange asks the experts: What can Tiger Woods do at the Masters to make the public forget about his personal troubles?  

Robert Thompson, television, radio and film professor

“Play really, really, really well. He has done his apologies, he has had his press conferences and they are extraordinarily unsatisfying. I think the future of Tiger Woods’ career depends on whether he can go back and play golf as good as before all of this happened. If he can, I think he’ll do just fine.”

Rick Burton, sport management professor

“The easy answer is to just win, but he’s less likely to win than normally because he’s been away from the game for so long. Whatever made him win is within him, and I’m sure he’ll win again, but it won’t change peoples’ opinions overnight. The American people tend to be forgiving, but it will be a function of a number of factors. He wants people to trust him again, and he wants people to like him again, but it will take time.”

 

Published on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm